Scott Norwood’s life after football is business as usual

Tuesday

Mar 30, 2010 at 12:01 AMMar 30, 2010 at 12:18 PM

Scott Norwood will forever be “that guy” who is responsible for the most famous missed field goal in NFL history, the one that would have given the Buffalo Bills a 22-20 win in Super Bowl XXV over the New York Giants 19 years ago. However, despite the understandable anger and disappointment from that night in Tampa, Norwood is at peace with himself, proud of his NFL career, and even more proud of what he has accomplished since.

Paul Jannace

For many, Scott Norwood is “that guy.”

For his three children, Scott Norwood is “dad,” and he wouldn’t have it any other way.

Norwood will forever be “that guy” who is responsible for the most famous missed field goal in NFL history, the one that would have given the Buffalo Bills a 22-20 win in Super Bowl XXV over the New York Giants 19 years ago.

However, despite the understandable anger and disappointment from that night in Tampa, Norwood is at peace with himself, proud of his NFL career, and even more proud of what he has accomplished since.

The former Bills’ kicker has made good use of the business degree he earned from James Madison University, working as a financial planner, selling insurance, and being a real estate agent since his NFL career ended after the team waived him following the 1991 season.

“It’s been a long while since I’ve retired, but since then I’ve been doing a lot of things,” Norwood said in between signing autographs and taking pictures at the 37th annual Sports Night in Hornell on Saturday night. “The primary thing is that I started to raise a family.”

He is no longer a professional football player, instead earning a living in the more traditional, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. sense, but Norwood’s most important job is as a father to his three teenagers.

Norwood, who will turn 50 on July 17, starred in high school on the soccer field as a sweeper, but soon grabbed the attention of the football coach and his football career was born.

“My roots are in soccer, which kind of led me to kicking,” Norwood said. “I’ve done some coaching in soccer, that’s a little more my area of expertise, but I do help kickers when I’m approached, probably a couple each year.”

Norwood, who grew up in Alexandria, Va., shares the James Madison University record for field goals in a season (15), and is a member of the school’s Hall of Fame.

Still, his great work for his Division I-AA school was not enough to get drafted. Norwood hooked on with the Atlanta Falcons during training camp, but did not make the team.

He spent two seasons with the Birmingham Stallions of the United States Football League but was cut again after suffering a knee injury.

No sweat, because the Buffalo Bills came calling in 1985. Norwood won the job with the Bills, and began a seven-year NFL career that saw him make a Pro Bowl and earned first-team All-Pro honors in 1988.

“That was a tremendous step for me,” Norwood said. “Everything else was just gravy, so to speak. “Just to make the team, and my first season, that was a great time.”

Norwood finished his career by making 72.3 percent of his field goals and nearly 98 percent of his extra points, plus was a part of the emergence of the Bills from basement dwellers to the AFC’s dominant force.

“It was a lot of great memories,” Norwood said. “I thought we were a very close-knit group. It’s always been nice to see those guys again when I’ve been back at all of those Hall of Fame inductions.”

The Bills finished 2-14 in Norwood’s first season, and then Marv Levy took over as the coach in the middle of the following season. By the 1988-89 season, the Bills were in the AFC Championship game for the first time in eight years.

Sometimes overlooked because of his infamous miss, Norwood had a very successful career with the Bills, breaking O.J. Simpson’s team record for career points. After the team signed Steve Christie before the 1992 season, Norwood’s career with the Bills — and the NFL — ended.

Christie would go on to break Norwood’s team points record, but judging by the seemingly never-ending line of fans waiting for a Norwood autograph in Hornell on Saturday, he has not been forgotten … and not just because he is “that guy.”

Norwood said he would like to be remembered as a player who did the best he could and had some great successes.

“I had the chance to play in a Pro Bowl and a couple of Super Bowls, and be around a lot of wonderful teammates,” Norwood said.

A solid NFL career aside, Norwood admits he still goes back to Jan. 27, 1991, the night when the phrase “wide right” became famous.

“It’s inevitable to think about it, especially at certain times of the year, like during the playoffs when it’s more prevalent in the media,” said Norwood, who missed a 47-yard field goal on grass – hardly a gimmie – in the final seconds of Super Bowl XXV. “I certainly don’t dwell on it. I’ve moved on and have it in its proper place and perspective.”

Norwood’s failure on that night has been replayed over and over on television, and even in a couple of movies, but now he is more than a retired football player.

Perhaps overlooked is that Norwood not only played one more season with the Bills following “The Kick,” but despite a down year, statistically, did boot a crucial field goal in the 10-7 win over the Denver Broncos in the AFC Championship game.

Norwood said he does not watch much of the NFL or the Bills these days.

“Towards the end I like to watch some of the playoffs, but right now I’m in the throes of working and raising a family,” Norwood said. “That keeps me busy.”

Although, Norwood is aware of one move the Bills recently made that made him smile — the hiring of special teams coach Bruce DeHaven.

“He’s a great man,” said Norwood of DeHaven, who served in the same capacity with the Bills when he played. “We’ve kept in touch over the years. They’re lucky to have him back.”

Norwood might be remembered for a brief moment of failure, but listening to him talk about it and everything else shows he has never let it define him.